Bashar Assad wasn’t the only person paying protesters lately. A Lebanese man who rushed the border in last month’s Naqba Day incident told The Guardian: One demonstrator who was wounded that day told the Guardian the Lebanese militia Hezbollah had given him $50 to turn up at the border and $900 to have his gunshot…

If you think today’s protests along the Israeli-Syrian border represent a “Palestinian Spring,” think again. The Reform Party of Syria says says it has information that Assad regime paid off today’s Naksa protesters who tried breaching the Golan border: The Reform Party of Syria has learned today, from intelligence sources close to the Assad regime…

Talk about the mother of all oversimplifications. Jeff Danziger can’t distinguish between a democracy defending itself from infiltrators — coming from across the border — with a thuggish regime brazenly killing its own citizens protesting peacefully. Simply pathetic.

HonestReporting’s Simon Plosker was on Rusty Mike Radio discussing Naqba coverage and new perspectives on Israel-advocacy. Listen to the podcast. One Palestinian who breached the border from Syria said he was shot while trying to kidnap an Israeli soldier. Will someone please notify The Economist? They think the border breach is new page in Palestinian Arab…

Smackdown: 1. the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent; 2. a contest in entertainment wrestling; 3. a decisive defeat; 4. a confrontation between rivals or competitors Here are today’s five biggest smackdowns. 1. Bashar Assad smacks down Syrian lawyers, doctors, intellectuals, and other educated professionals. 2. The International Criminal Court smacks down…

Heads up from a sharp reader who spotted a deeper problem with the Daily Telegraph than the headline which Simon Plosker blogged a short time ago. If your borders are being stormed, who should the headline identify as the attacker, Simon wondered. Commenting on that post just minutes ago, Mordechai Bendon points out another significant problem with the…

6:18 pm Here’s the video of the tweet I just posted. Throwing rocks from behind an ambulance is so macho. 6:08 pm: Credit Peter Lerner with the tweet of the day. 6:01 pm: The Druze residents of Majdal Shams have convinced the last Syrians to return home. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Golan village…